troop

noun

1. (collective)A collection of people; a number; a multitude (in general).

   “That which should accompany old age — / As honour, love, obedience, troops of friends — / I must not look to have.”

2. A small unit of cavalry or armour commanded by a captain, corresponding to a platoon or company of infantry.
3. A detachment of soldiers or police, especially horse artillery, armour, or state troopers.
4. (in-plural)A group of soldiers; military forces.

   “Ah, knovv you not the Citie fauours them, / And they haue troupes of Souldiers at their beck?”

   “Farewell the plumed troop, and the big wars.”

   “His troops moved to victory with the precision of machines.”

5. (nonstandard)An individual soldier or member of a military force; a trooper.

   “One American M48 was slightly grazed and one American troop lightly wounded.”

   “Although the mission failed, at least 5 ISIL militants were killed, however 1 American troop was wounded. According to the reports, Jordan had a role in the operation and that one Jordanian soldier had been wounded as well.”

   “2022, CNN, First Russian troop to speak out publicly against Putin’s war. Hear what he has to say (archived)”

6. (nonstandard)A company of actors; a troupe.

   “In order to form the new troop to a greater degree of perfection, the four principal actors were placed in the seminary of the cadets”

7. A chapter of a national girl or boy scouts organization, consisting of one or more patrols of 6 to 8 youngsters each.

   “Lord Baden-Powell of Gilwell (1920), Aids To Scoutmastership, page 6: “It is the Patrol System that makes the Troop, and all Scouting for that matter, a real co-operative effort.””

8. (collective)A group of monkeys.
9. A group of meerkat families living together.
10. A particular roll of the drum; a quick march.
11. A group of mushrooms that are close but not close enough to be called a cluster.

verb

1. To move in numbers; to come or gather in crowds or troops.

   “Then everybody once more knelt, and soon the blessing was pronounced. The choir and the clergy trooped out slowly, […], down the nave to the western door. […] At a seemingly immense distance the surpliced group stopped to say the last prayer.”

2. To march on; to go forward in haste.
3. To move or march as if in a crowd.

   “The children trooped into the room.”

name

1. A surname.